During the 29th annual session of the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”), Malta, Tuvalu, Honduras, Guatemala and Austria declared their support for a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining. To date, now over thirty States have called for a halt in the exploitation of the deep seabed minerals. These calls come as the ISA struggles to adopt a final set of regulations on mining exploitation.
Deep-sea mining
Deep-sea mining is the process of extracting minerals and metals from the ocean seabed, including valuable resources such as manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper. One of the main reasons deep-sea bed mining is attractive is that these resources are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive to extract on land. They are also essential for the development of modern technologies, such as renewable energies and electronics.
While there are clear benefits to be derived from deep-sea mining, a number of environmental non-governmental organisations and some States have expressed concern over potential environment risks and uncertainties associated with such operations. In particular, critics have suggested that deep-sea mining has the potential to cause damage to marine ecosystems and have emphasised a lack of scientific consensus on the long-term consequences of these operations.
Increasing calls for a moratorium
As deep-sea mining attracts increasing public scrutiny, a number of States have called for a so-called ‘precautionary pause’ on these operations. A ‘precautionary pause’ would essentially mean a temporary halt to any exploitation activities, presumably until more information has surfaced on the long-term environmental effects of deep-sea mining.
A number of the early proponents of a moratorium included Pacific Island States, such as Palau, Fiji, and Samoa as well as some European Union Member States, including France, Germany and the Netherlands. The European Union itself has also been a strong advocate of a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining. In February of 2024, the European Parliament voted in favour of a resolution reaffirming its support for a moratorium and calling on the European Union Commission and Member States to apply a precautionary approach.
More recently, Greece, on 3 June 2024, joined the calls for a moratorium as part of a declaration it signed with France on cooperation in the maritime sector. During the 29th Session of the ISA in between 15 July and 2 August 2024, five more states, namely Malta, Tuvalu, Honduras, Guatemala and Austria, announced their support for a pause on deep-sea mining activities.
Delay in the ISA obligation to issue deep-sea mining regulations and efforts to jump-start deep-sea mining initiatives
The ISA in an international organisation established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”). Amongst its roles is to manage and control mineral exploration and exploitation activities in the international seabed. It has been made responsible to prepare rules to regulate the deep-seabed mining industry. So far, these have not been promulgated and the calls for a moratorium come alongside this continuing failure.
The ISA has developed a comprehensive set of regulations on mining exploration. It has yet, however, to finalise regulations for the exploitation of mineral resources (the “Exploitation Regulations”). During the 29th annual session of the ISA, further progress was made as the Council continued negotiations on the draft Exploitation Regulations. Negotiations, however, have been stalled in recent years, including due to concerns over the implications of deep-sea mining on the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
It is unclear whether there is any momentum for a moratorium and whether it would impede the finalisation of these regulations. Calls for a moratorium come at the same time as clear signals from many States and commercial actors that they are committed to moving forward with deep-sea mining initiatives. Notably, on 9 January 2024, Norway’s parliament decided to open its extended continental shelf for deep-sea mining exploration. The Metals Company, a Canadian mining firm, also stated in August 2023, that one of its subsidiaries intends to submit an application for a mining contract following the ISA’s 29th session.
Where to go from here?
While there are clearly pros and cons to deep-sea mining, it remains a potentially lucrative and rapidly developing industry with vast opportunities for States and commercial entities in the mining industry. It is critical for these actors to monitor closely the progress and conclusions of the ISA negotiations and the scope of any further calls for a moratorium. States and commercial actors might also want to consider what legal risk-management steps they could be taking at this critical juncture in deep-sea mining.
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